One more thing... :-)

...and so that was Christmas...

Well Christmas is over for another year...was over just as quickly as it arrived actually. Fox and Nevada had an amazing Christmas. Josh and his girlfriend Keri spend the Holiday with us. It truly was wonderful...hectic and crowded at times but wonderful. I have to agree with my friend Sarah though..I'm glad it's over. All that hype for one day...it's great and all but when it's over..it's like "ugh...now I have to put everything away" and "where am I gonna put everything"...lol.

Spent Boxing Day with my parents/siblings/niece/nephews along with Josh and Keri. Fox and Phil were going to go and Fox was going to spend the week with his Nanny and Pappa however on our way up, we stopped at the local drug store to get some milk for Nevada and out of the blue, Fox just started getting sick all over himself and his sleeping bag so we ended up dropping him and Phil off home and the rest of us were on our way.

I made my first official Christmas dinner and I have to say....DELICIOUS! Couldn't be more proud of how it turned out.

We all got amazing gifts. I got a digital camera and LOVE it, Fox got one as well. He had asked Santa for a digital camera and a rocket ship however the Big Guy could only come through with one of those gifts...the rocket ship came in the form of slippers. I asked Fox if he was happy that he got a "real camera" for Christmas and he said he was but "where is Fox's rocket ship". I explained to him that Santa had talked to the people at NASA and that they were not willing to part with one of their ships so he contacted Mommy and told me where I could find some slippers that were shaped like rocket ships..he was fine with that.

Nevada is still too young to really understand what is going on...Fox is too for that matter. He knew it was Christmas but he doesn't really understand it yet, I had to actually bring up the fact that Santa had probably been there and when he realized what I had said, he asked me to go downstairs and see....probably will next year though I hope :-)

Well that's it for me for this year. I won't be back on to post till next year...sounds funny saying that...see you all next year. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and that 2009 is everything you all wished and hoped it would be. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Hope you all all come back and visit us!

My 12th reason why I love Christmas

My 12th reason why I love Christmas is just this:

~12: TRADITION

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.


The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

~Clark Moore (1779 - 1863)

I remember this poem so well..I even have a book that my mom made for my brother/sister and I when we were younger. She drew all the pictures and made this poem into a book for us and now I have it and am able to carry on the tradition of this amazing poem with my children.

My 10th and 11th reason why I love Christmas

Apparently I missed a day somewhere along the lines so todays post is going to be a double post.

~10: My 10th reason why I love Christmas is my Christmas tree. Each and every year it just seems to get better and better and this year is no exception. I would actually have to say that this years tree is the nicest one we've had yet. Our theme is blue/white or silver, however you look at it and we have an Angel on the top of our tree and she is wearing a blue and silver dress with a white center...she is beautiful. The majority of our ornaments are either blue or silver and same with our lights..they are blue and white...and we have the more traditional ornaments of anything and everything..which all seem to blend together so beautifully ;-)

~11: I also love buying new ornaments for my tree and I found the most amazing ice cycles ever...they are blue and silver and match so great with our tree theme.

PS: I will post pictures once I get on my land line computer cause the ones I have on my laptop are very blurry and do not do my Christmas Tree any justice.

My 9th reason why I love Christmas

For every year as far back as I can remember, our local Mall has always hosted Woody the Talking Christmas Tree however this year...he is no longer with us. They've "retired" him due to the fact that he was older than dirt :-) The kids would line up and watch Woody wake up and then they'd stand in front of him one by one and Woody would talk to them and ask them what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas and he'd sing songs with them and tell jokes. In order to make up for our loss, the Mall had to make the Santa Claus Display that much more amazing so this is my 9th reason why I love Chrismas.



~9: I absolutely love seeing the looks on my children's faces when we turn the corner at the mall and they look at where Santa is. It's amazing..you have to walk through a huge tree where on each side you either have the "Spa" and one of Santa's reindeer, my guess would be Blitzen, along with a racoon soaking in a hot tub or a "Cardio" display where you have another one of Santa's reindeer, again my guess this time would be Prancer riding an exercise bike and a squirrel doing some other sort of work out. On the outside of the tree, you have a little table and chair section where all the good little boys and girls can sit and write Santa a letter and on the actual tree itself, they have mail slots..two to be exact..one for Santa's shorter fans and one for his taller ones. This year they've added a new attraction and I'd like to share a picture of it with you all.

My 8th reason why I love Christmas..

My 8th reason why I love Christmas is the letter writing to Santa that my children (well Fox for now) does. For the longest time this year, Fox has been telling us he wants a "REAL CAMERA SO HE CAN TAKE PICTURES OF MOMMY/DADDY AND VADA AND A ROCKET SHIP". Here is his letter to Santa this year:
I think he did amazingly well for doing it all by himself and for being just 3 years old. I couldn't be any prouder.

My 7th reason why I love Christmas

I love shopping and when I get to buy things for my children..that makes it all the more exciting. My 7th reason I love Christmas is just that...a great excuse to go out and buy stuff for my kids.

~7: Shopping...tonight I went to WalMart with my sister and the first thing I see is a price that read "Clearance..regular $129.97 on sale for $29.97"...all that was lying around were these huge boxes of Little Tikes 2 in 1 Buildin To Learn Motor/Workshop. I thought right away that there is no way this could be correct so I went searching for a worker...to which I found none but there were other shoppers there loading up their carts of this amazing buy so I bought one for Fox. I am so excited about this and to be honest...I'm looking forward to playing with it myself :-)

My 6th reason why I love Christmas

Well everyone knows that this time of year means lots and lots of yummy food so I guess that will be my 6th reason.

~6: I love love love all food related to Christmas. Chocolates, hard candy, candy canes, little chocolate santas, turkey dinner, gravy, mashed potatoes. I am very much looking forward to this years dinner cause it will be our first official Christmas at home as a family..Phil, myself, Fox and Nevada and we will also have Josh and Keri there too. I love cooking for my family!

This picture is compliments of a yahoo search I did..I did not take this picture..lol

My 5th reason why I love Christmas

Ok so this reason is more of a personal reason.

~5: Bedtimes (with no fuss cause Santa is watching). I know this also goes for everyday of the year however with how busy Christmas time can get...bedtime is sometimes a blessing :-) There are days when I am counting down the time till the kids bedtime..lol

This is an older picture of Fox....but I thought it was just too cute that I had to use it.

My 4th reason why I love Christmas...

Ok so this year is going to be somewhat different for me...my parents are not going to be here for Christmas..they've decided to stay at home, which will be really great for them but sad for us. It will be my first Christmas without my parents being close by. We will however be having 2 additions to our Christmas morning traditions this year so this is my 4th reason:

~4: FAMILY. I love my family very much. My brother in law and his girlfriend, who is practically my sister in law anyways :-) have asked to spend Christmas with us this year..which I know Fox will love cause he loves his Uncle Josh so very much...and he's even asked us today actually if he can call Keri (Josh's girlfriend) Aunt Keri cause he loves her just as much. Family

just makes it all that more special.

This is "Uncle Josh" and "Aunt Keri" taken on Halloween night

in 2007 however neither of them have changed one bit...they are just as crazy now as they were then. :-)

My 3rd reason why I love Christmas

My third reason for why I love Christmas might make some of you think I'm crazy but here it goes:

~3: I love going into the crowded malls and shopping and just listening to all the bustle and commotion that this amazing time of year creates. I know some people get really cranky in crowded stores however I love just the atmosphere of it all, not to mention looking at all the decorations and seeing the wonder and amazement in my childrens eyes.

~taken from Sarah~ My 12 days of Christmas

Ok so while I was checking out my amazing friends blog...I decided to steal...lol...her idea of "The 12 Days of Christmas" and post 12 reasons why I love Christmas. Seeing how I am now two days late with this great idea, I'm gonna post my first two reasons together:

So the first and second reasons why I love Christmas are:

~ 1: Music: I love Christmas music. I love listening to it, singing it and trying to teach it to my children.

~ 2: Snow: I love snow...well let me rephrase that..I love snow when it's on the grass and NOT the roads (I do not like driving in the snow at all) I love seeing the look on Fox's face when he sees the snow falling and someday will love seeing Nevada's face as well because right now she is afraid :-)

So there you have it...those are my first 2 reasons as to why I love the Christmas season.
(thank you Sarah for the great idea) I look forward to talking to you all tomorrow..until then...

With a twinkle in his eyes....

So 2008 marked Fox and Nevada's first official full year together and what better way to celebrate than to go and visit the "Jolly Ol Elf" himself. You always see kids crying and screaming when sitting on his lap and I figured that because my father, their grandfather is a spitting image of the Man, my kids would be fine....I'll let you all be the judge!!

First, here is a picture of my dad and how he looks:

And this is a picture of Fox and Nevada sitting on Santa's lap ~ 2008 (ages 3 1/2 and 15 months)

So I guess the saying of "it's who you know" just isn't all that accurate eh!!

I want to also take a moment and wish all my American Friends a very Happy Thankgiving!!

Winter fun

This is how it looked with the snow falling in our back yard. So beautiful!!

Love this picture of Fox...his mitt had fallen off and he came to the door to have it put back on.

Christmas is coming...

We've been slowly starting to decorate for Christmas...no tree yet though..too early for that. When I was a little girl, my mom and I (can't remember if my brother and sister helped or not) always made a long red and green chain out of paper. We'd color both sides of the paper either red or green and then my mom would make some glue using flour and water and we'd cut the paper into strips and glue them together to make a chain and then we'd hang it up on the ceiling. I've decided now that my children are starting to get older :-( that I'd like to have that same tradition in my house so Fox and I sat down and painted our papers red and green and then I cut them into the strips and glued them together and we hung them up. Here is how it turned out:

We've also decided to start making gingerbread houses every year and this was our first year doing it. Fox was wanting to do it with his Daddy but today he's decided he wanted to put it together and surprise him with it...so here it is:

IMPRESSING US MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY!!

Ok so everyday Fox either draws a picture for his Daddy to surprise him with when he gets home from work or he will find a toy and wrap it in a sock and give it to him that way. Two days ago however he wanted to write "I love you daddy" so I wrote it on paper for him and he proceeded to copy it (his version) on another sheet for him and it was so good that we decided to share it with all of you.

BEYOND PROUD OF OUR LITTLE MAN

So Phil and I have been trying to teach Fox is ABC's and he is getting better and better each and everyday...so I thought I would post a pic of his work for you all to see. We are beyond proud of our little man!!!



~ Fox ~ 3 years old.

Just some random pics of my little munchkins

Here is a picture of Fox trying to give Nevada some love while they were playing in the toy box together...didn't quite work out the way he wanted it to.

And yet another...lol

Finally he was able to give her some love without her trying to squirm away from him..lol

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD...I LOVE YOU

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

So this year was Fox and Nevada's first official Halloween together and they looked adorable.

It was Fox's official trick or treating where he actually went around to a bunch of houses...last year he went to a few buildings with his Uncle Josh and some day Aunt Keri and had a bunch of fun then but Phil and I felt he was too young to actually go trick or treating so we waited till this year and he had a blast. Not once did he complain about being tired.

I am very proud of my little man and little girl!

True friendship

You know..not everyone will be lucky enough to find that one person who makes them feel that no matter how silly you are, they will still be your friend. Not everyone will be lucky enough to find that one person whom they can talk to no matter what. Not everyone is lucky enough to find that one person who will always be there for you no matter what. Not everyone will be lucky enough to find A TRUE FRIEND.

For me, I'm not one of those people. I have found not only someone whom I consider a bestfriend but someone who I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life and even though we live 1000's of miles apart...she is and always will be a part of my life. No names are needed here because she knows just how much she and her friendship mean to me......so this is for you my friend...my TRUE FRIEND!

Fox's countdown to Halloween

So Fox has been on a countdown to Halloween and he is getting rather excited...although just yesterday he informed me that he is giong to be a witch...mind you we have his Tigger costume in our closet..kids eh!!!

A Date To Remember...

~Older picture of Deborah Thorne ~

On October 24, 1996 my husband and his family lost one of their pillars of strength...Deborah Agnus Thorne passed away from Ovarian Cancer leaving behind many broken hearts.

I was also one of the unlucky ones..I never had the chance to meet this amazing woman who brought the most amazing man into this world..my husband. I may not have met her however I do thank her each and every day for Phil and his love.

It saddens me that she will never have the chance to meet her Grandchildren however we will make sure that she is never forgotten and they know all there is to know about such an amazingly strong woman..their Nanny Deborah!!

I dedicate this day to her memory....one that is too well loved to ever be forgotten!!!

A Thought For A Very Special Friend And Her Family.

Soul's Treasure

A Friend is a Treasure

A friend is someone we turn to,

when our spirits need a lift.

A friend is someone we treasure,

for our friendship is a gift.

A friend is someone who fills our lives,

with beauty, joy and grace.

And make the world we live in,

a better and happier place

-Author Unknown

Sarah, Brett, Gavin, Brynn and Alec...you are all in my thoughts and prayers! Your family is one of the strongest families I know and will conquer this heartbreak...with the love and support of one another and your friends/family, you all can get through anything that life has to offer you. Just know that I love you all and am here for you ALWAYS!!

Fox's belly

So after Fox just finished eating two freezes and having some snacks, he started rocking on the couch only to hear it all swishing around in his belly, he even put his hand on his stomach so he could feel it..something he's never heard or felt before. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh so hard before.

My Children playing together

Here is Fox and Nevada riding the tricycle together.

Kids say the darnest things...

While Nevada, Fox and myself were getting ready to go pick up my mom for the weekend, we decided to stop in at our local Tim Hortons for some timbits...anyways, we went through the drive through and at this particular drive through, the speaker in which we have to talk through is on the back of the wall...all brick mind you. When Fox noticed this, he got all excited and asked me if it was a talking wall. Too cute!

Halloween Carving for the first time...

SO...with two little children running around, Phil and I try to make each holiday something special and pumpkin carving is just something that goes with Halloween so Fox and I went out the other day and picked out two pumpkins..one for him and one for Nevada. Fox picked out the round one for himself and the tall one for his sister...then the task was finding something to carve into it. I think we made a pretty great decision as to what to use.

Here is a close up of Fox's pumpkin...THE SPIDER:

Here is a close up of Nevada's pumpkin...THE MOON WITH A BAT FLYING THROUGH IT:

The really great thing about all this is that I have never carved a pumpkin before so we think this is pretty great for a first timer... ;-)

Fox and his bestfriend

So Fox decided he wanted to go outside today and play with his superman...however just going out to play wasn't what I thought he meant...he actually had to dress him with one of his jackets and superman even had on a hat however it was too big and wouldn't stay on his head. You can see how proud Fox is just standing next to him and how much fun he's having.

As you can see by the picture above, he's giving his new friend some much needed cuddles, letting him know that he'll be fine learning to ride the bike.

Here Fox is trying to get his new friend to make funny faces at the camera however superman is a little stiff!!

OUR LITTLE MAN!!!

Total BED HEAD

So Nevada woke up this morning

with...well a bit of a different bed head..it's all flat except for the top of her head...she does look cute though ;-)

~ A Thanksgiving Alphabet ~

T ~ Turkeys, tablespreads, being together,

H ~ Happiness and homes to protect us from all weather,

A ~ Aunts and uncles, a reunion in Fall,

N ~ Nieces and nephews, family members all!

K ~ Kind-hearted kin coming over for dinner,

S ~ Surely you'll have fun, but you won't get thinner!

G ~ Gourds and pumpkins, mouths open wide.

I ~ Indians and Pilgrims we remember with pride.

V ~ Very special times-there could even be snow.

I ~ Imagine what it was like at Plymouth long ago.

N ~ Never forget how the settlers led the way,

G ~ Giving thanks and blessing this special day.

~AUTHOR UNKNOWN~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING MY FELLOW CANADIANS

My little swimmer

So as most of you know, we've registered Fox in swimming lessons and his first day there was a total mess. He didn't do good at all so we called and got him transferred into a class where either myself or Phil are in the pool with him and HE LOVES IT. He does everything that the instructors ask him to do. They even tell him how great he is doing. We brought Phil and Nevada along today so that they could see just how great he was doing and Nevada just sat there watching her big brother. We are SO proud of them both.